Althouse: "More than six years ago, John and Ann Giese stood at their daughter's hospital bed as saliva flooded her mouth and the rabies virus progressed toward its end."

May 9, 2011

"More than six years ago, John and Ann Giese stood at their daughter's hospital bed as saliva flooded her mouth and the rabies virus progressed toward its end."

"In every case to that point, if you got the virus without prompt vaccination, you died - usually within seven days of the first symptoms."

The daughter, Jeanna, survived and has now graduated from college.

28 comments:

coketown said...: I know a lot of people who were bitten by wild animals and passed on getting a prompt vaccination because it's such a drawn-out, inconvenient process. It takes several weeks to complete the regimen. I guess the annoyance isn't worth risking near-certain death.

(I advise anyone who gets bitten by a wild animal to get vaccinated at once. And finish college.); 5/9/11, 6:01 PM
Kathy K said...: I'm (mostly) with Coketown. If you get bitten by a wild animal that can carry rabies, get the vaccine.

As for the finishing college, only if you don't have real talent in a trade. :-); 5/9/11, 6:11 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: When saliva floods Jenna Jameson mouth..

Help me Trooper.; 5/9/11, 6:18 PM
edutcher said...: Very lucky young lady.; 5/9/11, 6:26 PM
Trooper York said...: File that under "Girls I will never try to get a blow job from."
Just sayn'; 5/9/11, 6:31 PM
Trooper York said...: Also in the file: Sara Jessica Parker, Janet Reno, Aileen Wuornos, Snookie and that lady the Monkey ripped the lips off of in Conneticut.; 5/9/11, 6:35 PM
Trooper York said...: Wait is that too crude for this blog. Sorry.; 5/9/11, 6:36 PM
Irene said...: She was the subject of a recent episode of "I'm Alive" (the show that used to be called "I Shouldn't Be Alive).; 5/9/11, 6:37 PM
reader_iam said...: Does anyone recall why she didn't receive the vaccination? Was it that she didn't tell anyone she was bitten by a bat, or that they decided not to see or doctor, or that the family didn't believe in vaccinations? Just curious. I don't remember the back story and it's not coming up in links so far.; 5/9/11, 6:42 PM
Irene said...: reader, according to the TV episode, she thought nothing of the bite because it was so small. Her mother wiped the wound clean and put a bandage on it. The girl began having symptoms about three weeks after the bite. When her mother took her to the ER, doctors questioned the girl about recent events, and she then mentioned the bat bite.; 5/9/11, 6:47 PM
reader_iam said...: The owners of the dog who mauled me as a small child temporarily hid the animal because the woman was so attached to him and was afraid to lose him. She didn't want to turn him over (did they kill them then to determine whether they were infected? I don't really recall, but I think maybe so.) I will be eternally grateful that reason finally prevailed, else I would have had to have that series of vaccinations as a precaution, which is what they did back then in the early '60s. (I don't know about now.) Boy, this young lady was lucky.; 5/9/11, 6:48 PM
Irene said...: reader, you both were lucky.

I recall a friend having the shots in the early 1960s. Painful.; 5/9/11, 6:51 PM
Robin said...: So many people today think that modern medicine has waved a magic wand and made diseases disappear.

Unfortunately, that isn't reality. And so complacency can be dangerous. That's how things like this can occur and how we get silly idiots telling other silly idiots not to get regular vaccinations against diseases because of fantasy fears.; 5/9/11, 7:00 PM
KCFleming said...: She's beautiful. Good for her.

My little retarded brother was bitten by a bat when he was 8, and had to have the shots. I thought he was going to die.; 5/9/11, 7:01 PM
Fred4Pres said...: So a cure for Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies must be just around the corner?

Thank God I do not have to worry about that anymore!; 5/9/11, 7:12 PM
Fred4Pres said...: I was climbing a fire escape once (for a building inspection) and a disturbed bat started to fly around in broad day light. It looked like one of those toy bats on a string, but it was real. Surreal how slowly if flew around in the middle of the day. It was definitely messed up and the first thought I had was, "Oh oh, that is too weird, RABIES!" I generally am not too frightened of wild animals, but I almost leaped the three stories off that fire escape. I wanted distance from that freaky thing. Normally at night and evenings, bats are just zipping around. This one was sick.

But I have bat boxes all around the yard now. I like to see them fly around (and they do eat lots of skeeters). But I tell the kids, if you see one on the ground, leave it be.; 5/9/11, 7:17 PM
Fred4Pres said...: The rabies vaccine regime is easier now than it used to be. So don't pass on it.; 5/9/11, 7:19 PM
John Burgess said...: When I was assigned to Cairo back in the mid-80s, State Dept. was advising its employees to a pro-active series of anti-rabies vaccinations. They spanned a six-month course of injections--in the arm, not stomach.

The problem in Cairo is rabid dogs.; 5/9/11, 7:31 PM
HKatz said...: She's a lovely young lady, and interesting beyond the medical miracle. Good article, and I'm glad she's doing well.; 5/9/11, 7:38 PM
meep said...: It's not that bad. My entire family has had the full course of shots. (We had a run-in with a bat, and couldn't catch the bat.) Even my 11-month-old son had the full course of shots.

You're just sore for a while, but it's nothing compared to getting rabies.; 5/9/11, 8:15 PM
Methadras said...: Can I actually point at her and say, "EWWWW!!! She's got cooties!!!" and have it actually be real? I think so.; 5/9/11, 8:28 PM
Triangle Man said...: They have no idea why she survived. Most oters treated by the same protocol have died.; 5/9/11, 8:31 PM
traditionalguy said...: Life is a blessing. The best plan to stay happy seems to be to get and keep friends in each age group. The young ones always see good in life, more than the older friends do. This young woman sounds like a great friend to have. She knows suffering, and she also knows the wonderful sweetness of life lived by faith.; 5/9/11, 9:35 PM
Wince said...: I'd keep her locked up in the basement... just in case she turned into a zombie like the daughter in Night of the Living Dead.; 5/9/11, 11:28 PM
Martha said...: This is a remarkable story and Dr. Rodney Willoghby a remarkable physician. In a perfect world all doctors would be as qualified and driven and able to care for each patient the way Dr. Willoughby treated the young rabies patient.

My younger brother, now an ophthalmologist, was Rodney's friend in prep school. My brother brought him home with him one Thanksgiving. Rodney went on to Princeton and Johns Hopkins for medical school and training in pediatrics and infectious diseases.

Dr. Willougby represents the best that medicine USA has to offer..; 5/10/11, 8:59 AM
Roger J. said...: IIRC this was a case of responding aggressively to the symptoms and treating them--bottom line, the young lady was lucky, had good medical care and made it.; 5/10/11, 10:18 AM
Unknown said...: Thank God for keteneme!
Do you not know the writing on the wall?
Weigh out the white stone that causes men to stumble
Known to him who does not fall; 5/31/14, 3:05 AM
Unknown said...: Thank God for keteneme!
Do you not know the writing on the wall?
Weigh out the white stone that causes men to stumble
Known to him who does not fall; 5/31/14, 3:06 AM